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#1 2009-01-28 01:41:21

elstrausso
Member
Registered: 2008-09-25
Posts: 49
Website

Best Hosting Provider for Textpattern

Hello, I’m looking to change my current provider, to one that might better support Textpattern issues like using Clean Urls etc. Can anyone provide any suggestions. Subsequently I hear good things about MediaTemple, but has anyone been able to use Clean Urls with this hosting service?

Thanks,
Elstrausso

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#2 2009-01-28 02:43:07

variaas
Plugin Author
From: Chicago
Registered: 2005-01-16
Posts: 402
Website

Re: Best Hosting Provider for Textpattern

There are several people have mentioned over the years:

MediaTemple
DreamHost (I personally use them)
Joyent

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#3 2009-01-28 04:32:27

joebaich
Member
From: DC Metro Area and elsewhere
Registered: 2006-09-24
Posts: 507
Website

Re: Best Hosting Provider for Textpattern

elstrausso wrote:

I hear good things about MediaTemple, but has anyone been able to use Clean Urls with this hosting service?

Yes, this site is hosted at Media Temple. As you will see, clean URLs do not appear to be a problem, had you heard differently?

Last edited by joebaich (2009-01-28 14:43:11)

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#4 2009-01-28 04:40:40

johnstephens
Plugin Author
From: Woodbridge, VA
Registered: 2008-06-01
Posts: 999
Website

Re: Best Hosting Provider for Textpattern

I use and strongly recommend Tiger Technologies. Tiger Tech support is always quick and comprehensive, with outstanding customer service.

I’ve never had a problem with their service, but over the years I’ve had several questions about server settings or other issues. They have always responded and solved my problem within a half-hour, even when the issue isn’t hosting related— they have helped me track down support for scripts and other resources, often providing detailed, focused advice for implementation. On several occasions, I’ve even received personal support from Tiger Tech’s president.

Tiger Tech works with you at your current level, but they can also support you as your knowledge and questions grow more advanced. When I began hosting my first site with them, I had a rudimentary grasp of HTML and CSS, but the world of PHP, MySQL, and Linux was way beyond my interest or ability. But as I got used to working with these and other tools, I found that Tiger Tech’s shell setup and domain control panel reflected the solid file-system and database access I was accustomed to in my Mac OS 10/Darwin based development environment. Other hosts I worked with on client projects always had quirky and incomplete support for client access to these tools, if there was support at all.

Tiger is a very competent, professional hosting provider that cares about the security and privacy of their clients. For instance, many hosting providers expose your scripts, even passwords contained in config files, to other users in a way that’s almost criminal. That’s why you see warnings about setting directories to mode 777— making them “world-writable” on such hosts gives anyone with PHP privileges access to your files. Tiger Tech’s user account configurations prevent such abuse.

With Textpattern (and the other publishing platforms I’ve used), all of these things have become more important to me. Shell access and full access to phpMyAdmin (or command-line access to MySQL) aren’t absolutely necessary to run TXP, but many tasks become a lot easier when you have them, especially when it comes to extending Textpattern with plugins. And the swift and outstanding customer support gives me confidence that I’ll never get stranded. Because I’m not done learning.

I have a little experience with other hosting providers (and no experience with those mentioned above), but they have all compared poorly with Tiger Tech’s magnificent customer support and solid, professional setup.

[Edit: added missing conjunction-junction]

I do know that Mike Davidson used to officially and prominently endorse Dreamhost, and I almost hosted one site with them to try it out— but Mike has removed it from his site in frustration. You will have to ask others here about their experience.

Whatever you do, don’t choose Pair Networks, GoDaddy, or Global Servers. This isn’t a complete list of bad companies, but I’ve worked on client projects using these hosts; moreover, I know people who have had very crappy experiences with these companies.

I hope this helps!

Last edited by johnstephens (2009-01-28 07:24:45)

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#5 2009-01-28 04:43:08

johnstephens
Plugin Author
From: Woodbridge, VA
Registered: 2008-06-01
Posts: 999
Website

Re: Best Hosting Provider for Textpattern

Addendum: Rands posted this yesterday about Media Temple site blackouts. I know nothing about MT from personal experience though.

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#6 2009-01-28 05:57:01

wet
Developer Emeritus
From: Schoerfling, Austria
Registered: 2005-06-06
Posts: 3,330
Website Mastodon

Re: Best Hosting Provider for Textpattern

Also you should know that I will remove any affilliate links in all recommendations posted here.

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#7 2009-01-28 06:25:29

jm
Plugin Author
From: Missoula, MT
Registered: 2005-11-27
Posts: 1,746
Website

Re: Best Hosting Provider for Textpattern

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#8 2009-01-28 13:35:44

elstrausso
Member
Registered: 2008-09-25
Posts: 49
Website

Re: Best Hosting Provider for Textpattern

Thanks very much to everyone for the suggestions on this thread, I really appreciate it! I’m currently with Hostway, and have been working with their Tech support to try and get Clean URLS working on my site, and the experience has been absolutely AWFUL. They will not answer any tech questions over the phone, so all you can do is use their “email support”, which takes 36-48 hrs to get the most mediocre reponses. It took a week of emails to finally get in touch with someone who even understood what a Clean Url is. I wish I could add their name to the Textbook list of “Hosts To Avoid”.

Okay, Looks like I will go with MediaTemple.

Best,
Elstrausso!

Last edited by elstrausso (2009-01-28 13:37:57)

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#9 2009-01-28 14:43:20

renobird
Member
From: Gainesville, Florida
Registered: 2005-03-02
Posts: 786
Website

Re: Best Hosting Provider for Textpattern

elstrausso,

I have about 15 TXP sites with MediaTemple – I recommend them to most new clients as well. Their support is unmatched…you can call 24/7 and get someone knowledgeable on the phone pretty quick. Of course there are times the grid might be slow (no provider is perfect), but the issues are usually resolved quickly.

Good luck.


Tom

Last edited by renobird (2009-01-28 14:44:32)

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#10 2009-01-29 08:18:31

elstrausso
Member
Registered: 2008-09-25
Posts: 49
Website

Re: Best Hosting Provider for Textpattern

Thanks for your message. When I was with Hostway, they had no problem what so ever with my site being down from 24-48 hrs. or MORE. So if Media Temple has the occasional slow down, that is no problem with me, considering the ineptitude I’ve been dealing with lately with HOSTWAY!. Stay away from Hostway if you want to do anything more than have a static front HTML page with your name on it.

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#11 2009-01-30 18:53:43

jim
Member
Registered: 2008-11-06
Posts: 29

Re: Best Hosting Provider for Textpattern

I have been using NearlyFreeSpeech.net to host my weblog, and I love them. As near as I can tell it’s never been down, and it costs me about $1.50/month. It’s “pay for what you use,” so for most sites it’s dirt cheap. Their FAQ is extensive. No complaints whatsoever.

One caveat: mine is not a high traffic site. Although presumably, since they only get paid if your site gets used, they’ll want to be able to handle spikes. Their answer to what happens if I get slashdotted? is reassuring.

Last edited by jim (2009-01-30 18:56:08)

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#12 2009-01-30 22:33:10

cnolle
Archived Plugin Author
Registered: 2004-03-21
Posts: 87
Website

Re: Best Hosting Provider for Textpattern

In the past I have used Joyent (but is a bit sluggish from the UK), which has worked without any problems. Occasionally I have also used Webfaction, which is fine, except for the fact that their servers don’t have php mail installed by default. There is a work around, but it is a bit of a hassle. Zen.co.uk is also fine, Media Temple runs it without any issues as well. The cheap (by that I mean really cheap and usually crap, like fasthosts is just a pain). I tried to install it there once and had to give up.

- Christian

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